CP,Common,Andy and Marge

[der68]

I wanted to take time to say I am sorry you all had to once again witness another blow-up between me and Jody.
I have been reading the board even though I wasn't posting. My initial post {75}was in response to Jody's post number 50 and 68. I was infuriated by her blatant disreguard for anyone that has loved this man. Still I didn't post.I watched as CP,Marge and Common tried to appeal to a sense of common decency and respect. Your post were very clear and direct,however all of this was lost on Jody. She tends to only read what she wants to read. Either she lacks understanding or she just doesn't give a damn.
Her manipulative move to "bow out" to gain some sort of sympahty,and to make me look like a monster is not going to work with me either. It makes me no never mind if she stays or goes. But I did not force her off of this board. She seems to be the Big woman when nobody is challenging her views or post. But the second some one does she's under "Attack." Then she is back tracking on what she had orignally said. The problem with that is what she said is in Black And White. I did not say that she lied about any of her rememberance's of David. I said she doesn't know her place,she tends to over exaggerate her importance where David is concerned. Someone not knowing the truth could easily assume Jody was David's life partner if not married to him certainly engaged or involved in an committed relationship,from reading some of her post. Not that I even care about that,but when she begins to speak for him,as well as knowing hs every thought that get to be a bit much. I don't care how she choose's to represent herself. Maybe David made her feel this way. If so DR was a great actor,or he had a dumb subject. ;D ;D ;D I appreciate the honesty on this board as well as the sensitivity. Jody should be very happy that I responded to her rather than one of David's children.
Please know that I am not the reason for her leaving this board. And as long as she remembers her place I will never post to her again. Thank you all for reading this. ;D ;D ;D

[Andy]

Hi der: This morning I started to post then stpped. There was nothing to say. I tried but realized sometimes people don't get along. Later I decided that you and Jody made an effort and that I would continue to applaud the effort even if the end result wasn't great. I'm saying this because I had trouble approaching the topic, but your post gave me the opportunity to speak. I would hope you and Jody both post, perhaps not to each other. Again, I express my hope that you might send me your email address. Sometimes private words off the board can avoid larger, more public fights. I think Jody trusts me a little bit and would consider any constructive thoughts from me. I know I haven't earned your trust. Perhaps one day I will. As always, Best Regards, AJA

[der68]

Andy thank you for your response. I will most definitely take you up on your offer. Thank you.

[Common]

Happy Sunday all! As far I'm concerned, there is no bad/guy scenario here. No one can force people to leave. That is their own choice or decision. No one is to blame when people make up their own minds. I know what you posted was not easy to do in such a public forum. I, too, agree with Andy that certain issues belong in private email, not on the board. This was something I tried to get drexell to understand, instead of taking it as some personal attack. I've said this time & time again, you never who is lurking on this board. When you say certain things, you are leaving yourself open to be questioned, or even challenged. I just hope we can move on from this. Thank you again.

[molly]

Hello Everybody.
der,
Common and Andy both echo my sentiments. Thank you for feeling the need to explain your position,but it is not neccessary. Have a Great Day

[Voirdire]

Common said:

Happy Sunday all! As far I'm concerned, there is no bad/guy scenario here. No one can force people to leave. That is their own choice or decision. No one is to blame when people make up their own minds. I know what you posted was not easy to do in such a public forum. I, too, agree with Andy that certain issues belong in private email, not on the board. This was something I tried to get drexell to understand, instead of taking it as some personal attack. I've said this time & time again, you never who is lurking on this board. When you say certain things, you are leaving yourself open to be questioned, or even challenged. I just hope we can move on from this. Thank you again.

Eh, do what? I haven’t run my dog in any of these races today. Have I misread this post mentioning my name? It appears that one is darned if they do; and, darned if they don’t. If they do not post, they are accused of lurking. If they do posts, then they are interfering. Some of you cite using sensitivity in the event Mr. David’s family reads the board. From most of the dialog I have read, I will take my chances.
Common, you ask me who I was referring to when I mentioned the unnecessary bashing. To the point, Mr. Williams (Otis). If this is a place to honor Mr. David; then Mr. Otis was a “cluster” of Mr. David’s life just as his wives, Ms. Tammi, der68, Ms. Jody, Ms. Genna, his children, his friends and countless others. Freedom of speech allows any of then who knew him to write. All these clusters equal the sum of his life.
And, whoever made mention to my degree being useless, you are absolutely correct. It by itself is no more than a piece of paper with black and red ink. What makes it important to me is the hard work I put into receiving it and what I retained in reference to accepting others and the realization that it takes all kinds to make sense of this thing we call life. Most of you (Ms. Marge, Andy, Evita, CP and Jody) have been very nice and receptive and I thank you, the rest of you need some Dale Carnage courses on “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” California Shrink, go put that textbook you’re reading (fronting) out of, back on the shelf and get real. Tell me Shrink, are most of these people, Type A or Type B personality?
The audacity of some of you accusing me of posting and reading in order to gain information. Please. The only thing I am taking from here is some emails of some really neat folks! CP, your board is great. Great in its layout, composition and design. However, unless one agrees completely with certain posters, then their opinions and/or questions are attacked.
I am heeding the advice one of you gave the MB poster (which by the way, seems like another poster who doesn’t stand a chance) I started my own small group discussion and the invites are in the (e)mail. All interested are welcome. Most of you shouldn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t waste your time. First, there can be no defamation of characters, and second, we are discussing that “asinine” subject.

[Common]

Why so bitter, drexell?

I don't need to be right. I would never grow as a person if I felt the need to do so alll the time. I also hope that you & Jody take your own advice & realize that it is all about respect. Strange, I've been called paranoid & bitter yet you & Jody scrutinized everything that I've said & made it personal. I'm glad you've started your own discussion group so both of you can continue your "investigation". I've tried very hard to stay above the fray, especially between Jody & der68 but I notice when I say anything, I'm "berating" or "bashing". You can ask any questions you chose to on the board, but I ask it's more "berating" & "bashing". Molly or Andy can say the same thing I'm saying but I guess I'm not 'saying' it the way you want me to. There are two sides to every story but hell, only one person's side matters because you're doing the same thing that you are accusing me of.


Please don't give me any lectures about O's importance to the group. You're entitled to your opinions as I am. Molly & Andy have also made statements towards O but of course, you're not addressing them. So I've already figured out that this is personal & your only purpose is pick up Jody's cause. She is the only victim here. I'm the monster. And the book you requested, maybe you should give to Jody. She needs more than I do. I don't get on a message board to get any validation from anyone. So again, good luck to your discussion group. As for the board, we can all move on with the real business at hand......

[molly]

:DCommon i didn't see this post. Me and der must have been in the wine. I don't feel that stating your opinion about any person is "bashing" that person. Otis Willam's personal life has not been dragged through the mud, I was commenting on Otis as a so-called performer. And I will continue to do so,because that is MY right. I don't buy into the reasoning that because Any person was a part of David Ruffin's life that they deserve some kind of respect. Otis and Genna have done more to hurt this man's reputation as well as his family than any body. If they had a right to capitalize on David's memory through their books and Otis movie then why don't we have the Same right to state our opinions about the both of them. I will continue to say what I want to say about either of them,and I could give less than a Damn who likes it.
I know a little about the David/Otis/Temptation saga not through books or a third party,but becaue I was there. I knew David at that time. So if it's considered "Bashing" then I'm gonna get my "Bashing" on.

[Common]

molly said:

:DCommon i didn't see this post. Me and der must have been in the wine. I don't feel that stating your opinion about any person is "bashing" that person. Otis Willam's personal life has not been dragged through the mud, I was commenting on Otis as a so-called performer. And I will continue to do so,because that is MY right. I don't buy into the reasoning that because Any person was a part of David Ruffin's life that they deserve some kind of respect. Otis and Genna have done more to hurt this man's reputation as well as his family than any body. If they had a right to capitalize on David's memory through their books and Otis movie then why don't we have the Same right to state our opinions about the both of them. I will continue to say what I want to say about either of them,and I could give less than a Damn who likes it.
I know a little about the David/Otis/Temptation saga not through books or a third party,but becaue I was there. I knew David at that time. So if it's considered "Bashing" then I'm gonna get my "Bashing" on.

Molly, that's exactly the point. How am I effecting O's livelihood by my comments? If that's the case, then O will have to sue everyone that has had an opinion or made unpopular statements about him. If David or Tammi were alive & read the statements attributed to them by you-know-who's book, which also bashes, trashes & defames David, his family & friends, you can bet that lawsuits would be flying all over the place.

[der68]

Molly and Comon,because it's not about Bashing Otis. Thats a lie. Thats just an excuse to take Cheap shots at me and you,Common. All of this back and forth is because drex and her friends don't like things we have said to and about Jody. Plain and Simple. To that I say TOO BAD! Why would drex care about what anybody said about Otis,Hell she didn't know him either niether did Jody! This is just a childish smoke screen. Molly if you don't mind my using your words, I will say what I want and can give less than a Damn who doesn't like it when it comes to Otis,Genna or Jody!.

[Common]

der68 said:

Molly and Comon,because it's not about Bashing Otis. Thats a lie. Thats just an excuse to take Cheap shots at me and you,Common. All of this back and forth is because drex and her friends don't like things we have said to and about Jody. Plain and Simple. To that I say TOO BAD! Why would drex care about what anybody said about Otis,Hell she didn't know him either niether did Jody! This is just a childish smoke screen. Molly if you don't mind my using your words, I will say what I want and can give less than a Damn who doesn't like it when it comes to Otis,Genna or Jody!.

Der68, I did comment that this whole thing was personal because what has been said here to Jody. I, too, wish folks would be honest about that.

My point is is that I do not want to be involved in something that Jody tried to bully me into because 1) To persecute someone because the person has a score to settle with the persecutee 2) anything involving drugs & money is dangerous & if you're going to point fingers at someone, you'd better be prepared for the consequences 3) And this is most important, the fact that 12 yrs have passed by & the fact that those "involved" might be either dead, cracked up, or in jail. David had alot of friends, some influential, others unsavory. If the family had suspected something, they would have turned to some of these influential resources. Jimmy, especially, probably could have used any resources & connections that he had.

Just to conclude, from what has transpired here on the board, especially in regards to the "events" surrounding DR's death, Jody nor drexell have said anything to convince ME that anything shady happened. Everyone is entitled to their feelings so that's why no one should take it as personal affront because people don't feel the same way they do. That doesn't mean that no one cares about David. It's the complete opposite & moreso, it's because we respect him, especially his family.

[molly]

Common said:

Molly, that's exactly the point. How am I effecting O's livelihood by my comments? If that's the case, then O will have to sue everyone that has had an opinion or made unpopular statements about him. If David or Tammi were alive & read the statements attributed to them by you-know-who's book, which also bashes, trashes & defames David, his family & friends, you can bet that lawsuits would be flying all over the place.

Common nothing that any of us have said has affected Otis's livelihood. However there have been things said by Otis that I believe did have an affect on David's livelihood. I am apt to agree with der on this one. Talking about Otis is not the reason for you being accused of berating or bashing people.
Omg when I read the things that Genna wrote about Tammi. I was livid,not because she wrote them but because she told so many lies. There have many things said about Tammi and David that just wasn't true. Otis and Genna are among the people to have done so. I know that David and Tammi's families have been hurt by both Otis and Genna.
I'm sure that are people that did not like David Ruffin as a performer,and they are entitled to their opinion. It wouldn't be "bashing" David to say so. I don't see any difference. I think as a performer Otis lacks a lot of talent,I have seen him perform and I am entitled to have my opinion.